Boris Pelcer

Beyond having a wonderful name, Boris Pelcer is very talented and I adore his self-promoting business cards. Wish I'd a) thought of that and b) had the time and patience to create something so thoroughly detailed and beautiful for our own studio...

Type Feast

Stumbled across this very inspiring Tumblr site the other day called Twenty-Six Types. It's the brainchild of Craig Wills and is simply about celebrating beautiful letters. So very inspiring... I can't see what'll be posted next. Thanks, Craig!!

My type of typewriter

The typewriter is dead... long live the typewriter. This old, beloved letter-making machine has captured the hearts of a handful of illustrators and gift-makers: Christine Berrie, Rachael King Birch, Tabitha Emma, The Bold Banana, and Ask Alice.

Wallpaper from the 70s

Bling it up, people! I'm not really sure if decorating with wallpaper is on its way in or out, but honestly I don't really care. These designs from Wallpaper From The 70s are just beautiful. I'm sure I can find something to cover with some of these gorgeous patterns...

Knock Knock

Don't you just love a list. As far as I'm concerned, if it's written down somewhere it's as good as done. Check out these quirky note pads from Knock Knock: they make a quirky gift idea... but in the interest of achieving ultimate order in my own life, I think I might grab a couple for myself. Order online from the US Knock Knock website or here in Oz from Hart and Heim.

Chocolate Cheesecake – Yum!

Here's a great recipe my neighbour Rachelle is locally famous for. She was kind enough to share it with me, even though it's officially her trademark dessert dish...

Chocolate Cheesecake

Serves 8+ Prep 20 mins Cook 50mins

Ingredients

200g digestive bicuits, crushed

105g unsalted butter, melted

500g light cream cheese at room temp

200g vanilla yoghurt

1 cup caster sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

150g dark chocolate (or chocolate bar) melted, cooled.

1. Line a 20cm springform pan with baking paper. Combine biscuit and butter and press into base of pan. Chill for 20 mins.

2. Preheat oven to 160C. Using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese, yoghurt and sugar until smooth and creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in vanilla.

3. Pour half of cheese mixture over crumb base. Spoon over melted chocolate. Top with remaining cheese mixture. Using a skewer, gently swirl chocolate into cheese mixture, taking care not to over-mix.

4. Bake for 45-50 mins, until cheesecake just sets. Turn off oven and cool in closed oven. Chill overnight before serving.

From the December 2009 Australian Good Food Recipe Book.

Thinking outside the 1080px window

http://www.daniel-ng.com/home.html

http://www.correapablo.com.ar/

http://www.cheesecupid.com/

http://www.screenbites.co.uk/

http://noonebelongsheremorethanyou.com/

Just thought I'd share with you some of the very creative, quirky and clever websites I've stumbled across over the past week or so. The last one was pointed out to us by our client, copywriter Siobhan Doran. Thanks, Siobhan!

Should I work for free?

Today I'm wondering if Jessica Hische is actually one person. She's so prolific I'm not sure how she could be. Or perhaps she really truly loves her craft so much that she can't help but come home on a Saturday night and get to work creating more beautiful, timeless typography and amazing illustrations.

Apparently, when she has an extra minute to spare, Jessica creates online joys such as this diagram for us all to have a giggle and do a little self reflection. This one's about whether there are, in fact, circumstances we designers should work for free. Go to the link and ensure to start in the middle. I checked through and as far as I can see, the pro bono work we've just begun for Unicef qualifies...

Ink Alphabet

Giuseppe Salerno is an Italian Graphic Designer whose beautiful hand-made letters and numbers have me smiling. They're drawn with chinese ink on smooth paper, and each character has been made with confidence and care. You can buy and download both collections on the Behance Network.

Flashkus

Flashkus is a disposable cardboard USB flash drive designed by Art Lebedev, a Russian design studio based in Moscow. This great concept for a flash drive comes in a set of four that can be easily detached along a perforated line. They can then be personalised and written on. The Flashkus is only in concept stage at the moment, but what a great idea!

Emma Leonard

Emma Leonard is a very clever person indeed. She's based in Melbourne and you can buy her intriguing illustrations printed on heavy-weight cotton rag paper here.

Exsqueeze me...

Don't you just love a good ol' fashioned creative collaboration. This project, "The Exquisite Book", is a fold-out series of illustrations by no less than 100 artists and illustrators. The deal was that each contributor was only allowed to view the page before their own. For more, see the website: www.exquisitebook.com. Honestly I'm not so keen on the book's title, they can be forgiven seeing that the pictures are so very enticing...

To Kill a Mockingbird

The most recent book we read for Book Club was the American southern classic, To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. It was nice timing, too, seeing that the story celebrated its 50th year in print only last year. I've just collected a few book cover designs for us all to enjoy; some of them are real and some of them are concepts.

We all thoroughly enjoyed burying ourselves in the lives of Scout, Jem, Atticus and Boo Radly. It's completely understandable why this book continues to be a favourite for so many people. The language is beautiful, the characters endearing and the themes poignant and relevant, 50 years on.

Sebastian Lester

Another clever typographer. Sebastian Lester is based in the UK and specialises in creating fancy type for a range of different companies and their projects and promotions. His website is worth a look at, because he not only has a great portfolio, he uploads images of 'found type' he collected along the way.

Poor Little Trees

These sad little faces are a reminder of our impact on the environment. France-based artist/designer Steven Burke paints on trees that have been cut down. A simple design with a strong message for us all. Reduce, reuse and recycle.